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Hotels to be converted into treatment facilities
29 Apr, 2021
By Vyshnavy Velrajh
Tourist hotels will be converted into coronavirus treatment facilities if there is a requirement, officials said today.
Army Commander General Shavendra Silva told Colombo Gazette that based on the requirement hospitals too will be converted into COVID-19 intermediate treatment centres.
There is fear among the public of a shortage of treatment centres due to the sudden spike in cOVID-19 cases in the country at present.
However, there will be no such shortage, as hotels and hospitals will be converted into treatment centres, if necessary, he said.
General Silva said steps will be taken to increase Covid treatment centres and the patients will be provided with the best facilities.
If required, the National Operations Centre for the Prevention of COVID-19 will convert 10-15 hotels across the country for this purpose.
Some hotels and hospitals are already in the pipeline to be converted into treatment centres, he explained.
The Army Commander insisted that it all depends on the necessity of the hour.
He further said the hotels and hospitals designated to be converted are in additional to tourist hotels that were earlier converted into intermediate treatment centres.
The Government converted a number of hotels in the Southern part of the country and a few hospitals following the second outbreak in October 2020.
Infected people were given the opportunity to select a paid facility at a hotel or hospital to undergo treatment. (Colombo Gazette)
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